


copycat

by moonlightvrs



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe | Villains, Blood and Violence, Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Light Angst, Major Character Injury, Multi, Slow Burn, broganes, guys they're basically space pirates, i got high and decided to edit this piece of shit, i'm sorry but these children are ruthless
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-03
Updated: 2017-07-06
Packaged: 2018-11-08 07:13:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11076618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonlightvrs/pseuds/moonlightvrs
Summary: "You got brains in my hair.""You literally have amullet, Keith, nothing can make it look any worse."---or the one where they pulled a dreamworks introduction and actually cut the fucking moon, my dudes.





	copycat

**Author's Note:**

> okay, so like, there is so much violence i'm rlly sorry. no, i'm not but, we can pretend i am and that i am a compassionate soul who _doesn't_ feed off of the suffering of others.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the paladins get lit, death ensues

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LOOK AT MY END NOTES I DONT KNOW HOW THIS WORKS WHY DID I DO THIS

**TAKASHI SHIROGANE** rarely felt the need to yell at his comrades. Yes, they were all immature little monsters. Yes, he was the leader of their group. Yes, they were annoying as hell. Yet, even when presented with the unshakeable desire to jump into outer space without a spacesuit, he didn't yell. 

This time, however, seemed to be an exception. 

“Pidge, I swear to god if you do not put down that stupid bazooka gun, I will personally make sure that all technology on the ship will be held hostage from you!” He shouted, his eyes trained on the Galra soldier in front of him. 

He spared a second glance at Katie Holt - Pidge Gunderson, if you wanted to live another day - and groaned. They had their fingers on the trigger and a target in their sights from the satisfied grin stretching across their face. 

Their wild blond hair was sticking up in all directions, and their fake glasses askew, dirt streaking Pidge’s cheeks as they breathed in and pulled, a loud screech sounding across the battlefield. 

Shiro’s eyes widened, a small curse word flying from his lips as he swung his metal arm out, his fist meeting the Galran soldier’s nose with a sickening crack. He barely had enough time to grab the soldier by the uniform and use their body as a shield from the loud and smoldering blast that rolled over the small village they were in. 

Turning back to Pidge, their manic laughter floating through the singed air, Shiro narrowed his eyes. Tapping the com on his ear, Shiro linked into the group’s feed, “Pidge Gunderson, you are so grounded.”

A chuckle crackled over the speaker, fizzing in and out along with the sounds of various gunshots, “Way to go, Pidge, I’ll split the prize with you.” Keith Kogane grunted out, ducking beneath the fist of a Galra soldier just in time to shove his sword through the weak chunk of armor beneath their ribcage, his hands quickly twisting the blade out as he rolled away from the falling body. 

Pidge’s voice sounded in his ear, “I want more than half.” They deadpanned, and Keith rolled his eyes, hitting another soldier in between the eyes with the butt of his sword. 

“If you wanted more than half then you should have waited it out longer, maybe I could have upped our standings.” He said simply, spinning and ducking underneath a fist, his sword sweeping out and making a Galra fall to the ground, their purple fur already dampening with blood. 

“Do you know how often it is that I get to fire a fucking bazooka gun, Keith?” Pidge asked, their voice slightly strained, and Keith felt himself tense ever so slightly before punching an opponent in the throat. Not a moment after, Keith heard another explosion, and Pidge’s cheers pounding through his ears. 

“Pidge! I said no bazooka gun!” Shiro shouted through the coms, and Keith smiled at Pidge’s cackling on the line, his grin only growing wider as he heard his brother, Shiro, sigh, “And we have already discussed not placing bets on who gets in trouble.”

Keith was about to reply to his brother’s useless warnings when a sword was pressed against his neck, a strong arm holding him to a hard chest. Feeling panic rise in his throat, Keith froze in place. He held his arms up, his grip on his sword already loosening as he felt the sharp blade of the sword nick his skin, a small trail of blood already forming on the side of his neck. 

Then the arms were gone, the sword chafing his neck was dropped, and his hair was flecked with midnight purple blood and small parts of brain matter. He shook his head and looked down at the body, a crater where his temple should be. Following the rough trajectory, Keith looked to the mountain mountain range, a small ways from where he was. He saw a small blue light flicker behind the tree line and scowled, looking down at his chest to see a small dot of light aimed right on top of his heart. 

“You don't know how easy it would be for me to kill you right now, Keithy-Boy.” A voice crackled through the com, and Keith glared back up at the tree line. 

“You got brains in my hair.” He growled, spinning his sword in his hand before turning and driving his sword through an oncoming Galra. Frowning as it remained lodged inside the soldier, Keith braced his foot against the alien’s chest and pulled, his blade now dark with Galra blood. 

Lance snorted in his ear, a small bark of a laugh escaping through his lips, “You literally have a _mullet_ , Keith, nothing can make it look any worse.” He whispered, shifting his weight a little as he checked his other teammates’ positions, shooting off a few bullets into the skulls of a few Galra and company that got a little too close to his teammates for Lance’s liking. 

He returned his sights to Keith, who had no firepower, backup, or means of defending himself other than that stupid sword and horrendous hair. He watched as Keith reaches a self conscious hand up to his hair, grimacing at the feel of blood and brain matter, and Lance had to stifle another laugh. He was a _sniper_ , he had to remain silent. 

He checked the body count on the side of his helmet view, a handy little scorekeeper that Pidge had gracefully provided for him. He has three shots left in his magazine. He glanced down at the battlefield. _Better make them count_ , he chided himself, taking in a deep breath before squeezing the trigger once, then twice, taking out two guards by the entrance of their target building. He removed himself slightly from his sights his eyes quickly scanning the field, a quick blur of movement catching his eye to the right of the town. 

He swallowed thickly, a long string of Spanish swears pouring from his lips. If his Mamá had heard him say that, he surely would have been dead by now. Pushing up daisies, to be exact. Maybe petunias. His mother had some growing in the backyard. At least, she _did_ , last time Lance saw her. 

Lance shook his head, focusing back on the fight at hand, “Yeah, guys we have a problem.” He said, abandoning all worries of being silent and deadly at this point. 

“Lance, Hunk and I are almost out of here, please tell me it's not that big of a deal.” Allura’s voice said over the feed. 

She checked over her shoulder, giving Hunk a small nod as he hoisted the trunk onto his shoulder, and nodded back. Taking out the small blaster attached to her hip, Allura motioned a hand forward, cocking her gun before turning the corner, small, silent shots piercing through the armor of Galra soldiers and numerous sentries. 

She moved swiftly down the hall, Hunk following less quietly, and she held her hand out as they reached the entrance. She grabbed the large trunk from Hunk, holding it by her side as if it were a small sack of groceries and not a three-hundred pound osmium chest. 

She was about to kick down the doors, when Lance’s voice crackled in her ear once more. She held up a hand to Hunk who had his minigun at ready. He smiled easily at her, and nodded brightly, as he relaxed a bit as she peered down the hall behind him. Hunk Garrett was a blessing.

She smiled at him, “Watch my back, let's see what Lance has got to say.” She told him, and he quickly obliged, turning around and edging closer to her back. 

Hunk glanced at her over his shoulder, “I’m sure Lance has a good reason.” He reassured her, and she felt her rigid bones ease of only a little at his words. 

“Awe, thanks bud!” Lance crowd over the feed, and Allura felt herself tense all over again.

“Lance, focus.” Pidge growled into the coms.

Lance scoffed, “Hey there, you better be nice to me, I am still mad at you for rigging our groundation bets.” He whined, and Allura rolled her eyes, although she was a little ticked about that herself.

“Woul-”

“Holy crow, Keith!” Lance shouted over the feed, his voice growing staticky from his volume, “Would you chill for a second?” He squeaked and Allura allowed herself a smile at the two’s antics. 

“Do you mind not shouting in my ea-”

“Allura, we've got Kaelans on our tails.” Lance cut Keith off, his voice urgent as Allura scowled at his news. Lance got distracted so easily. She couldn't blame him however, she knew he was focused enough when on the job that he deserved to be a little quirky at times. She had once seen him go three straight days on a mission without moving position once. She wondered what type of drills they did on Earth for that type of military skill. 

A chorus of swears filled her ears as the rest of the team processed Lance’s warning. They all knew what Kaelans bring. They were fast, as in, _all you see is a blur before you meet your untimely death_ , kind of fast.

Allura sighed, “Right, okay, how long do Hunk and I have for you to hold them off?” She asked, looking back at Hunk who flashed her a thumbs up over his shoulder, his eyes never once leaving the hallway in front of him. He was ready to go at her command. 

Lance sighed over the ear piece, shrinking back down towards the ground and looking down his sights, lining up to one of the Kaelan’s blurry figure. His eyes and body working together as he worked on memorizing their pattern and speed, his brain working on overtime as he calculated distances and speeds with his rough estimates from what he was seeing. He quickly reached over, his eyes never leaving his sights as he grabbed a new mag and reloaded his gun within seconds.

He narrowed his eyes as he took in another deep breath, his fingers found their way to the trigger and he breathed out, “You've for six minutes, beautiful.” He replied before squeezing the trigger. 

His fingers were quick, shots being fired off in quick and rapid successions, Kaelan bodies dropping every few seconds, blood seeping from their heads and chests, kill-shots everytime. 

“Lance they're on the move!” Pidge yelled over the coms and Lance sighed in relief, his actions not stopping as he tracked the blurs of green and gray alien masses. He worked fast, his bullets flying even faster than before as he desperately tried to keep as many creatures from heading to a waiting Keith. 

Lance knew that Keith could handle a couple of Kaelans on his own at once, four at the most, even with their blinding speed. But this? This was different. This was a whole fucking horde and Lance could barely keep up, and he knew he was going to run out of bullets. He was counting in his head and he had six shots left. He took at least three seconds to empty and reload his cartridges. 

“Keith, I’m about to reload!” He grunted out, sweat beads rolling down his tan cheeks, and dropping into the dirt. 

“I got this!” Keith shouted back, and Lance knew he did. 

“Now!”

Lance grabbed the loaded magazine beside his gun with his right hand, his left unleashing the empty one and flicking it to the right with his pinky. He shoved the clip into his gun and breathed in quickly, practically shoving his face back into the scope as he regained his rhythm of shooting Kaelans. There were only a few left, Lance knew that, but suddenly he felt like he would never get through them, and still be able to help out Keith with the escapees. 

He fumbled with the trigger, quickly taking down the remaining aliens, and scrambled to stand up. He grabbed his gun and disassembled it with ease within a minute, throwing the gun itself over his shoulder and ditching the useless parts in the bush beside him. He grabbed one of the bullet shells and with a single strangled cry, slid himself down the steep hill to go meet Keith. 

“They're down!” He shouted into his com, “I got as many as I could and I don't see many more!” He grabbed his bayard from his hip and activated it, an energy machine gun now in his hands as he ran towards Keith’s clearing. 

“I’m try- a little held up here, Lance, I need ba-” 

“I’m already on my way, Mullet!” Lance interrupted, his blood on fire from adrenaline as he almost tripped over a protruding root. 

Keith growled from the other line, “What is with you and interrupting me tonight?” He asked, and Lance had to fight the smirk that was trying to find its way onto his face as Keith finally came into view. 

He was facing off with three Kaelans, four already dead at his feet, and under normal circumstances Lance would have been sure that he could have handled this all on his own, but the blood dripping from his hairline that wasn't Galran purple or Kaelan brown had him running faster. 

Keith was breathing hard, Lance could see that much from this far. He had a sword in his right hand, lifted up and pointing straight at the Kaelans in front of him. In his left hand he held out his trusted knife, horizontally raised and poised to strike. But as Lance’s eyes followed his stance he also caught the fact that there was blood smear on the white armor of his hip. Human red. _Oh god._

Lance skidded to a halt next to Keith, subtly edging himself slightly in front of the shorter Korean boy. The action, of course, didn't go unnoticed by Keith who shot him a glare but he didn't object otherwise. 

Between the two of them, the fight didn't last long and before the Keith knew it he was leaning on Lance, his side screaming in protest every time he moved. Lance was quiet the whole time, the only sound between them was the sound of footfalls on on the dry ground and Keith’s occasional groan as he shifted his weight too far onto his injured side. Lance’s worried gaze settled on him every few minutes, the impossible blues of his eyes finding Keith’s every now and then making Keith’s stomach twist in awkwardness. He didn't know how to socialize with people who cared for him that weren't Shiro. 

They were only thirty feet away from the ship when Shiro himself came rushing out, grabbing Keith’s other arm and supporting him. He waved Lance along, claiming that he could take it from here, and that Allura needed help with the package they had just secured. 

Lance looked like he was about to protest, his eyes flickering to Keith, his eyes making a trail from his head wound to his bleeding hip. He pursed his lips and nodded, turning and jogging off to the ship, his shoulders slumped and his posture defeated. 

Keith cleared his throat, wanting to call out to him, wanting to tell him thank you for being there when he needed him, but the words stuck in his throat. God, he really couldn't do this. Instead he just shot Shiro a reassuring smile and wink at him, lifting his hand up to shoot him with a finger gun, but groaning at the cut across his hip. Shiro switched sides so that he wasn't in any danger of hurting Keith anymore than he already was. 

They made it to the healing pods relatively easy, trading small talk and strategy improvements from today’s battle. Shiro informed him that while he and Lance had been finishing off the Kaelans everyone had been checked over and healed. Keith was relieved to hear that. 

While his wounds were very painful and poisonous, they were fixed rather quickly, a mere fifteen minutes in the pod and Keith felt much better. Sore, tired, and dirty, but better. 

“This is Lance McClain coming at you from the um, living room, with amazing news!” Lance announced over the speakers, his voice sounding playfully across the entire ship, the normal amount of idiocy returned to his voice. 

There was the sound of a scuffle, a sharp smack followed by a thud going over the PA system, and suddenly Coran was at the mic, “We are about to liftoff so make sure you are prepared for a jump!” He chirped into the systems, and then there was more shuffling around, Lance’s whine in the background making both Shiro and Keith snort. 

“Everyone to living room.” Allura ordered before shutting off the system. 

Keith looked over to Shiro, and eyebrow raised, “She sounded absolutely ecstatic.” He mused, smiling as Shiro burst out laughing. 

Shiro nudged him, “She's probably doing cartwheels as we speak,” he replied, keeping Keith’s joke alive. 

A short bark of laughter tumbled from Keith’s lips, before he reached over and shoved at Shiro, “Race you!” He challenged, folding his arms and quirking an eyebrow at his brother. 

Shiro smirked at the younger man, “You're on,” and with that the two took off. 

 

Pidge growled, jumping onto Lance’s back, “You little asshole!” They shouted, grabbing for the piece of tech that Lance held just out of their reach in front of him, as Pidge grappled around his body for it. 

Lance laughed, “Who’re you calling little, shorty?” He teased, letting out an indignant screech as Pidge went to bite his bicep. He shook them off, falling backwards on the couch and smothering them with his body, “You heard Shiro!” He complained, feeling Pidge kicking at his back from beneath him, “You're grounded from technology!” He yelled, letting out a _manly_ shriek as Pidge literally kicked him off the couch. 

Sprawled face first on the carpet, Lance groaned, flopping onto his back and lifting his head to look at his friend and comrade. He put on his best kicked puppy expression, “You're so mean to me,” he whimpered, before dramatically dropping his head back down onto the ground, a long and woeful sigh leaving his lips. 

Pidge cackled at his theatrics, “Oh please, your fat ass was crushing me.” They said in between fits of laughter as Lance scrambled to his feet, a scowl set on his features. 

Hands on his hips, Lance rolled his eyes, flicking away a pretend lock of hair, “You're just jealous of my ass.” He muttered, making a show of turning around to shun Pidge.

Pidge’s laughter only grew, before suddenly stopping altogether as they leveled him with a serious look, “What ass?” They deadpanned, laughter turning into howls as Lance whipped around, his face red.

Lance floundered for a response, his brain short-circuiting from Pidge’s insults. He had a very _fine_ ass thank you very much. Sputtering, Lance lunged for the little jerk, “Come here, you little gremlin!” He shouted, fuming as Pidge jumped over the couch, laughter spilling from their mouth as they ran from the tall Cuban boy. 

Hunk swung open the kitchen door, entering the living room, a smile lighting up his dark features, “Hey, gu-”

Pidge screamed something incomprehensible and ducked behind him, using their tiny frame and little limbs to scale their way to the top of Mount Hunk. 

Lance pulled to a stop in front of Hunk, his tall and impossibly huge best friend staring at him with disappointment clear in his eyes. Lance sputtered once more, gibberish flowing from his mouth as he gestured to Pidge over and over again, who was grinning evilly over Hunk’s shoulder at him. 

Hunk sighed, placing a hand in Lance’s shoulder, “Lance, Pidge is only a kid-”

“I resent that!”

“-and you have to understand that you need to be the bigger person here.” Hunk lectured, and Lance’s jaw dropped. 

“They said I have no ass!” Lance shrieked just as Allura, Coran, Keith, and Shiro entered the room. 

At Allura’s slightly amused, judgmental stare, Keith’s raised eyebrows, Shiro’s frown and Coran’s confused state, Lance just groaned. Of course, they would all pick Pidge’s side, they were the youngest after all. Lance remembered what it was like to be the youngest sibling. Of course, it lasted for only two years and then the twins, Katya and Lorenzo, came along, and then after that Jaime and Maritza. Violeta, Tomas, Esteban, and Griselda always complained about how much of a diva Lance was at two years old. Lance, knowing full well of how he could be, would proudly support their claims. He loved being the middle kid sometimes. 

Allura smiled at the group, “As much as I’d love for us to discuss Lance’s ass,” Lance groaned, “we do have to think of our newest achievement.” 

A round of cheers went around the living room and Shiro pushed the large chest into the front of the room, showing only a little bit of visible struggle. _That container must be fucking heavy if even Shiro can't mask how hard it is,_ Lance thought to himself. 

Pidge pulled out a pair of bolt cutters from behind their back, and Keith snorted, “You carry around a pair of bolt cutters?” He asked, and Pidge leveled him with a steady look. 

“You carry around three knives, two daggers, a sword, a machete and a fucking condom on you at all times, Keith, shut the fuck up.” They deadpanned and Keith paled while Lance burst out laughing. 

“Language!” Shiro warned, shooting Pidge a warning glare that they returned with a toothy grin that could easily qualify as baring their teeth.

Lance looked at him, “You think you're going to get lucky and hook up with some hot space babe?” He asked through tears of laughter.

Keith shrugged, “S’happend before,” he admitted and this time it was everyone else’s turn to laugh while Lance was left floundering at this new information. His jaw was dropped, his mouth agape, and his eyes incredibly wide as he stared at his teammate. 

Lance had been in space for how long now? Four years. How many hot hookups has he had? Not nearly enough for him to decide to actually carry around a condom all the time. 

Narrowing his eyes at Keith, he straightened up, shooting a scowl his way, “I hate you so much.” 

Keith threw his hands up in the air, “Dude!” He cried out, confusion riddling his face, but Lance was too busy making sure his nose was up and turned away from the pale boy as he actively shunned him, to notice. 

Allura clapped her hands together once, “Anyways!” She changed the subject as quick as she could and Keith slumped forwards ever so slightly, the tension in his shoulders easing away as the attention was finally off of him and his sex life. 

“The honors, Hunk, if you would?” Allura asked, gesturing to the chest, the rest of the group cheering him on as the Hunk took the bolt cutters from Pidge. 

Holding them above his head, he cried out, “To justice and the downfall of the Galra Empire!” And everyone cheered again, Pidge climbing onto Shiro’s shoulders, and holding his hands above his head like they were using him to cheer for the both of them. 

With a loud snap the padlock holding the chest closed broke, and Hunk pulled it away, gesturing for Lance to help him get the lid open, smiling fondly at his best friend who got entirely too excited to help with the easy task. 

The top came off and the whole crew marveled for a good solid moment before diving into the chest, grabbing whatever they could for the time being, knowing full well what they would do with the contents in a bit. They just needed to _feel_ the victory within their grasps. 

In the midst of the chaos, Pidge cried out, earning everyone's attention as they showed them the piece of tech they had been trying to get from Lance earlier. 

“We made the universal headlines again, people!” They shouted and everyone laughed, small cheers going around, urging for them to read what exactly the headline read this time. Taking a deep breath to keep from laughing giddily at their popularity, Pidge called out, “The Infamous Voltron Gang Strikes Again! Is anyone safe from this group of dangerous criminals?” 

The whole group cheered louder than before, their hands full of money, currencies of all kinds gripped between their fingers as they all chanted, _“Voltron! Voltron! Voltron!”_ Over and over again. 

Lance threw the paper currency up into the air, showering himself and his teammates in money, “No one’s safe from us!” He cried out and everyone cheered louder in agreement, their eyes alight with nothing more than greed and the hunger for power.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM EDITING GUYS! I WAS SO HIGH AND I READ THIS TO MYSELF AND I STARTED CRYINF BECAUSE I DONT HAVE PLOT! I AM REWRITING! I REPEAT, MY STONED ASS IS GONNA REWRITE! I WILL GIVE YOU GUYS THE WUALITY CONTENT YOU DESERVE IM CRYING AGAIN IM SO SORRY WHY WOULD YOU READ ANY OF THIS ???


End file.
